20 years later, Kenny Anderson pays a visit
At some point this season MSU will commemorate the 10-year anniversary of its 2000 national championship team. It's also the 20-year anniversary of a great MSU team that suffered an unjust early exit from the tournament -- and the guy who ejected the Spartans is at Breslin today.
Kenny Anderson was to watch MSU's practice and visit with Tom Izzo's team on Friday, then attend the game today with his agent, Lansing lawyer Steve Haney. He's here as Haney's guest for the weekend. Anderson, you may recall, was the terrific freshman point guard who drilled the after-the-buzzer shot that sent the 1990 South Regional semifinal between No. 1 seed MSU and No. 4 seed Georgia Tech to overtime. The Yellow Jackets eventually won. Izzo (who is celebrating his 55th birthday today), Dwayne Stephens and Mark Montgomery saw it up close.
Here's an account of the aftermath from Bill Rhoden. This is basically why we now have instant replay to determine buzzer shots. And if the current rules were in place then, MSU would have played Minnesota in the regional final, and Jud Heathcote may have had his second Final Four. Nevertheless, a great play from Anderson after Steve Smith missed the front end of a one-and-one.
Tonight, Anderson will be watching a Northwestern team with legit designs on making the NCAA Tournament. I think Bill Carmody's team will be 3-6 in the Big Ten after tonight's game, but I also think it can end up 9-9 or 10-8. The schedule totally flips from here. Here's today's tipoff:
Spartan Tipoff: No. 5 MSU vs. Northwestern
* Where: Breslin Center in East Lansing
* When: 7 p.m. today
* TV/Radio: Big Ten Network; Spartan Sports Network radio, including WJIM 1240-AM and WMMQ 94.9-FM
* Records: MSU is 18-3 overall, 8-0 in the Big Ten; Northwestern is 14-6, 3-5.
* Series: Michigan leads 78-37.
* Coaches: MSU -- Tom Izzo is 354-140 in his 15th season, all with the Spartans. Northwestern – Bill Carmody is 226-180 in his 14th season overall, and 134-155 in his 10th with the Wildcats.
* Projected lineups
MSU
Pos. Name PPG
F (2) Raymar Morgan (6-8) 11.7
F (10) Delvon Roe (6-8) 7.2
G (15) Durrell Summers (6-4) 10.2
G (3) Chris Allen (6-3) 9.4
G (1) Kalin Lucas (6-1) 15.6
Northwestern
Pos. Name PPG
F (24) John Shurna (6-8) 17.3
C (12) Luke Mirkovic (6-11) 7.4
G (1) Drew Crawford (6-5) 11.1
G (23) Jeremy Nash (6-4) 8.9
G (22) Michael Thompson (5-10) 13.5
* MSU update: It figures that Izzo will stick with the small lineup he used against Michigan, since Mirkovic is the Wildcats’ only true big man starter. Just as in the U-M game, don’t expect to see much of MSU’s freshman centers in this matchup. This is the lone home game in a stretch of four out of five on the road for MSU. The Spartans go to Wisconsin and Illinois next week. MSU is trying to complete a perfect first half of the Big Ten season. Tonight will also mark three season series completed. MSU has already played Iowa and Minnesota twice. Sixth man Draymond Green should be fine on the right knee he “tweaked” against U-M. Summers quietly had a nice game with 10 points and 10 rebounds against the Wolverines. He continues to struggle from outside though – hitting 14 of 56 (25 percent) from 3-point range. Morgan is on a tear lately, hitting 28 of 36 shots in his past four games.
* Northwestern update: The Wildcats lost a tough one Tuesday at Minnesota, a 65-61 decision in which Thompson and Shurna played 40 minutes. The other starters played 32 or more, while Carmody got just 19 total minutes out of his bench. Center Kyle Rowley had the most with nine. That lack of depth – created by the season-ending injuries to Kevin Coble and Jeff Ryan – may end up wearing out this team. If the Wildcats can keep it together, though, the second half of the Big Ten schedule provides lots of opportunities for victories. Michigan, Indiana, at Iowa, Minnesota, Penn State, at Wisconsin, Iowa, at Penn State, Chicago State, at Indiana. That’s about as soft as you can get for a nine-game Big Ten stretch. A .500 league record, 20-plus wins and an NCAA bid are realistic goals – especially if Northwestern can pull off its second straight stunner at Breslin.
* Prediction: The Spartans won’t put up 91 like they did in a 21-point win at Northwestern on Jan. 2, but look for MSU’s offense to produce as it usually does against the 1-3-1 zone.
Make it: MSU 74, Northwestern 62
-- Joe Rexrode
On Friday, MSU got wins over Michigan in hockey and in wrestling. It'll be Spartans-Wolverines at the Joe tonight, and don't forget the Shoot for the Cure silent auction.
